Cristopher Sanchez dominates Athletics as Phillies stay hot under interim manager Don Mattingly

That changeup was on point Tuesday night with an average velocity of 87.6 mph. Sanchez used it on 43 of his 97 pitches and generated a near 70% whiff rate, via Pitch Profiler.

Sanchez has pitched at least five innings in each of his starts this season, but he had walked multiple batters in three of his four most recent starts entering Tuesday and allowed more than 10 hits on two occasions.

For comparison, Sanchez did not allow that many hits all of last season, making his early 2026 results a little bit of a surprise. It also did not help that the offense was doing him no favors in a 9-19 start to the season that led to the firing of manager Rob Thomson.

Fortunately for Sanchez, the offense has started to make some strides under interim manager Don Mattingly. The Phillies are 7-1 since he took over in the clubhouse with six or more runs in five of those wins. They even accomplished a rare feat when they won both games of a doubleheader against the San Francisco Giants via walk-offs.

The Phillies backed up Sanchez's outing with a trio of home runs, including two from first baseman Bryce Harper. His second long shot barely went the distance, but it was enough to extend Philadelphia's lead to, 9-0, and give the Phillies a balanced attack all around that has been missing so far.

Sanchez's dominance is a part of an overall turnaround from Philadelphia's rotation. When Thomson was let go, the Phillies had the third-worst ERA in MLB (5.08). Since then, that has improved to a much more respectable 1.80.

It is still early with Mattingly at the helm, but there is a lot to be encouraged by from both sides of the plate. Sanchez's dominance is just the latest reminder of how dangerous the Phillies can be when everything is clicking.